1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cabinet grille having a face composed of a decorative sound transmissible fabric. Such frames are widely employed as a face place or covering for sound speakers commonly used in television, radio, stereo, and other similar sound systems.
For many years, the manufacturing of speaker cabinets has required the use of two components to provide face accented detailing. Herein, we provide a means whereby one may apply a decorative sound transmissible fabric in a specific localized area to a decorative shaped plastic substrate for the transmission of sound through the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior to the present discovery, the market was forced to use a product which had no face accented detailing without the use of a separate component part as an insert. A description of the patented products currently available is as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,410 (Howell) discloses a speaker cover made of a flaccid material. The material has a band of felt, Velcro.RTM., along its outer border. A speaker is provided with a hook fastener, Velcro.RTM., along its outer border. The material is fastened to the speaker by contacting the band of felt with the hook fastener. The speaker cover is thereby attached to the speaker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,979 (Cassity et al.) discloses a two-piece speaker cover assembly. The first piece is a speaker cover that can be made from cloth-like material which can be stretched over the frame body. The second piece is a molded frame body having a channel with a first rib and a second rib. The channel, first rib and second rib are located on the side of the frame body facing the speaker. In addition, the channel does not contain any serrations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,455 (Kirkpatrick) discloses a two-piece speaker grille. The first piece is a cover that is made from a stiffened, resilient, fibrous cloth material which covers a grille. The second piece is the grille and it includes a groove, which does not contain any serrations.
German Patent 27 38 526 (Hennel) discloses a loudspeaker box having a front cover plate and a frame. The frame contains beading to which a cover may be fixed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,480 (Gate et al.) discloses a cover that can be fixed to an electrical instrument, including a loudspeaker. The cover contains two types of fastening lugs which fit into slots in the casing of the instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,698 (Smith) discloses a frameless pierced metal speaker. German Patent 27 38 295 (Gaus) discloses a speaker frame made from a metal-plastic-metal sandwich. U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,968 (Lemmon) discloses a three-piece speaker grill assembly containing a perforated screen detachably connected to a grill with a pad between the grill and screen. U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,031 (Yamamoto) discloses a cabinet for a loudspeaker. U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,227 (Chicoine) discloses a speaker grille which has two sets of misaligned sound transmitting holes.
None of these patents discloses a unitary or one-piece acoustical cabinet grille frame having a sound-transmissible fabric integrally bonded or fused to a shaped plastic face of the grille frame.